Bachelors pad for extra cockerels/roosters

[aldarita]

I did a search on this topic and found a thread that is four years old, I would like to know about the outcome of some of the posters and also anybody else that has tried this already.
I currently have a bachelors pad with two roosters, they have been living together since they were one day old. They were in my main chicken yard with 18 hens but it was a disaster, chaos and very stressing for everybody including me. I moved them to the coop we had built for growing chicks, they have been there for 7 months. Peace came back into my yard and my pullets and hens resumed laying as usual.
I have ordered some heritage chicks for spring and I am pretty sure there will be cockerels in the batch. I would like to keep a couple and add them to the bachelors' pad, however I would like to hear some experiences and recommendations. I know that there will have to be some introduction like putting them in a cage for several days so the roosters will see them without being able to get to them. Also maybe the fact that they will be young cockerels will help the situation, I wonder ????
This is my bachelors pad, I place the tarp on the north-west side to cover the view of the hens yard and also to protect it from the north winds.



I have plenty of room for more cockerels/roosters but I would like to know if this project is feasible.

 

[bobbi-j]

A couple of years ago, I hatched out and ordered straight run chicks. I ended up with 1/2 cockerels. When they reached breeding age, my poor pullets were being run ragged. (This didn't last long) I put all the cockerels in one coop/run together and they got along fine. But they had grown up together. I think if you're going to integrate younger ones, you really need to wait until they're close to the same size as the others. You can put them in a cage so they can see each other, but be aware that once you put them together, there will still most likely be squabbles to determine pecking order.

 

[aart]

That's a nice big area, you could partition it into 2 or more sections, with removable mesh 'walls' as your population and integration needs change.

 

[dheltzel]

I think you can integrate cockerels in with your existing roos. Put them together when the new ones are young, and better to do a bunch of new ones at once. Maybe add all your pullets too, then as they sex out, remove the pullets for your laying flock. Roosters are often very protective of young birds, they only get into fights when the young males challenge them (or each other, then the big guys might move in and break it up). A temporary wire wall is a good idea when you first put them together, that way they don't have to decide "threat or mate" in their own turf in a hasty decision.

That said, not all roosters are the same, if you get a mean one, you will need to separate him from the others.

 

[LanceTN]

I'm curious as to why you have all these roosters around?

 

[aldarita]

I'm curious as to why you have all these roosters around?

I'm curious as to why you have all these roosters around?

Right now I only have 2 roosters, next spring I will have more in my chicks batch and I would like to keep 2 more (if the integration works). Roosters are beautiful animals, some people like to keep peacocks because of their beauty, I like roosters, mine are gorgeous and I like to spend time with them, it is so peaceful and relaxing in their pad, unlike my lovely noisy, flighty hens and pullets.

 

[aldarita]

Thanks everybody for your input, you have given me great ideas

There is still a long way to spring and then I plan to leave the chicks in my growing pen for about 5 months, but I wanted to get ahead of the game and find out how hard or how easy it would be to add 2 cockerels to my bachelors pad. Wish me luck! I know nothing is predictable when it comes to chickens, one can only try.

 

[donrae]

I would actually add the new boys when they're a bit younger. Younger birds are less likely to challenge the older birds, and the older birds are less likely to see the littles as a threat. I have a pen that was a breeding pen and a grow out pen, I've opened the doors and they all mingle. I have a mature rooster and 4 mature hens, and then 9ish cockerels. The oldest cockerel is 6 months old, and he's still terrified of the mature rooster. None of the young guys even try to mate that I've seen. But all the cockerels get along with each other. There's some minimal sparring, but it's more playing or annoyance than serious challenges.

I intend to have a rooster pen when I have more appropriate facilities. I agree the're so pretty and I love them for eye candy!